Alfred Ludlam
Encyclopedia
Alfred Ludlam was a leading New Zealand politician, horticulturist and farmer who owned land at Wellington
and in the Hutt Valley. A member of three of New Zealand's four earliest parliaments, he was also a philanthropist and a founder of Wellington's Botanic Garden
.
, County Down
, Ireland, Ludlam lived for a while in the West Indies before coming to New Zealand, where he would spend the rest of his life apart from visits to Australia and England. (Little is known about Ludlam's early activities in Ireland or the West Indies but a preserved specimen of the common iguana
, collected by him on Tobago
, is listed in an 1845 British Museum
catalogue of lizards.)
on 12 December 1840 from Gravesend
in England. He is listed as a "cabin passenger" aboard the 700-ton emigrant vessel London, which sailed under the auspices of the New Zealand Company
. (The company had been formed in London the previous year with the purpose of promoting the orderly colonisation of New Zealand by British settlers.) He prospered in his new homeland, proving to be an energetic, intelligent and highly capable settler who proceeded to play an active role in the Wellington region's civic and cultural life. He also assisted the Lower Hutt
militia during the New Zealand land wars
, which pitted the British colonists against the indigenous Māori tribes. He served in the militia as Captain Ludlam from July 1860 onwards.
In 1853 voters chose Ludlam and Edward Gibbon Wakefield
, the former director of the New Zealand Company, to represent the electorate of Hutt
in New Zealand's 1st Parliament
, which opened in Wellington on 24 May the following year. Ludlam would also be elected as a member of the 2nd Parliament
and the 4th Parliament
, representing Hutt
in 1853–55 (resigned 9 July), 1855–56 (resigned 16 August) and 1866–70 (retired). He resigned his seat before the conclusion of both the 1st and 2nd Parliaments.
In addition, Ludlam represented the Hutt area on the Wellington Provincial Council in 1853–56 and again in 1866–70. Throughout his career in politics, Ludlam was renowned for his frankness, honesty and hard work. His propensity for straight-talking inhibited his ability to be a deft political operator but it did earn him the respect of his parliamentary colleagues and his constituents. He was nicknamed "Old Bricks" because of his solid, reliable character and stern appearance. Taller than average in height, he sported mutton-chop whiskers and a monocle during his time in public life.
During the 1850s and 60s, Ludlam's political and social activities brought him into occasional contact with a kinsman of his wife—the English-born baronet
and former Barbados
sugar planter Sir Samuel Osborne Gibbes. Sir Samuel (1803–74) was a prominent Freemason and a landed proprietor at Whangarei
, on the upper extremity of New Zealand's North Island. He was a Legislative Councillor from 1855 to 1863, impressing Ludlam with the strength of his belief in noblesse oblige
community service and his advocacy of high ethical standards. (For more information, see the Wikipedia entry for the Osborne-Gibbes Baronets
.)
Ludlam was a notable landed proprietor. His holdings included real estate in Ghuznee Street, Wellington (town sections 169 and 171), and he owned a substantial riverside farm at Waiwhetu
, Lower Hutt, where he ran flocks of sheep and developed a reputation as an expert in horticulture. He had purchased the Waiwhetu farm from fellow pioneer Francis Molesworth in the mid-1840s, calling it Newry after his home town in Ireland
. Ludlam built a large house at Newry in 1848, replacing the farm's first homestead. The farm also boasted an orchard, a spacious barn often used for public functions (such as an official dinner held there for the governor, Sir George Grey
, in 1851) and a stone windmill that had been erected by Molesworth in 1845.
In 1860, Ludlam imported the first Romney
Marsh sheep from England into New Zealand, instituting a successful ovine breeding program at a purpose-built stud at Newry. (His brother-in-law, Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes, conducted a similar Romney Marsh breeding program at his Australian sheep property, Yarralumla
(now the site of Australia's Government House
in Canberra
), during this same period). Ludlam also opened a beautiful landscaped garden at Newry in 1868. He called it The Gums as a tribute to Australia's native eucalyptus trees, which he had studied. (After Ludlam's death the area was renamed McNabb's Gardens and later converted into the Bellevue Pleasure Gardens.)
Ludlam supported the Wellington Colonial Museum and was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Wellington Botanic Garden
in 1869, having introduced into the New Zealand Parliament legislation to "establish and regulate" the garden. He also introduced an act of parliament which entrusted management of the Botanic Garden to the New Zealand Institute (forerunner of the Royal Society of New Zealand
). His contribution to the garden's establishment is commemorated on the 77 acres (311,608.2 m²) site by the pedestrian thoroughfare known as Ludlam Way.
A year after the Botanic Garden was established by means of a Crown Grant (dated 22 November 1869), Ludlam acted as a pallbearer at the funeral in Wellington of the Māori chief Honiana Te Puni, after whom the Lower Hutt suburb of Epuni is named.
. The main reason for these trans-Tasman visits of Ludlam's was to do business in the City of Sydney
, which served as New South Wales' principal trading port, population centre and seat of government. One of the businessmen with whom he dealt was Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
—an industrialist, pastoralist and pioneer of the frozen-meat trade.
Ludlam also found time to socialise while in Sydney and, on 1 October 1850, he married into Sydney's colonial establishment. The marriage was solemnised at St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney
by Ludlam's friend, the clergyman-scientist William Branwhite Clarke
, and his bride was Frances "Fanny" Minto Gibbes. Fanny (1822/23-1877) was the third daughter of Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes
and the Colonel's wife, Elizabeth (née Davis). London-born Colonel Gibbes (1787–1873) was a senior government official and a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. He had been head of the New South Wales Customs Service since 1834 and occupied a Crown-nominee's seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council
.
Then aged in her late 20s, Fanny was living with her parents at Wotonga House—nowadays part of Admiralty House
complex on Sydney's Kirribilli Point—at the time of her marriage to Ludlam. She and her husband spent their honeymoon relaxing at a rural New South Wales property, Yarralumla, which belonged to Fanny's brother-in-law, (Sir) Terence Aubrey Murray. Following their honeymoon, the Ludlams left Australia for New Zealand, making the farm at Newry their marital nest. This move, however, almost proved to be a fatal mistake: on 23 January 1855, the Wairarapa earthquake
destroyed Newry homestead, and the Ludlams narrowly escaped being crushed to death when a brick chimney in the living room collapsed around them. After the earthquake, as the Ludlams waited for Newry to be made habitable again, they went to live with the New Zealand politician and landowner (Sir) David Monro
, who owned a farm at Nelson
. Still extant is a vivid description of the earthquake and its destructive impact on the Wellington region, written by Alfred Ludlam to Sir David in a lengthy private letter dated 8 March 1855.
Ludlam was devoted to his wife. Cultured and well read but the possessor of an irreverent sense of humour, Fanny could speak several languages and was an amateur artist and musician of above-average competence. She also liked to garden on a serious scale, providing her husband with vital help in the completion of his various horticultural projects at Newry. Although she was a dozen or so years Ludlam's junior she nonetheless predeceased him, succumbing to a painful "stoppage of the bowel" on 5 March 1877. She and Ludlam happened to be staying in London, at 2 Clifton Terrace, Maida Vale
, when she died, and her death notice was duly published in the New Zealand press and The Sydney Morning Herald
of 4 May 1877.
" (an old-fashioned term for nephritis) and "acute peritonitis
".
Ludlam was aged 67 when he died. The final phase of his life had been devoted to charitable works, and his passing was sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends, acquaintances and beneficiaries. He was not survived by any children and his grave was destroyed during the 1960s by the construction of the Wellington Urban Motorway
. An official photograph of him is preserved, however, in the archives of the library of the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington. Ludlam Street in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun and Ludlam Crescent at Lower Hutt perpetuate his name.
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and in the Hutt Valley. A member of three of New Zealand's four earliest parliaments, he was also a philanthropist and a founder of Wellington's Botanic Garden
Wellington Botanic Garden
The Wellington Botanic Garden, Wellington, New Zealand, covers 25 hectares of land on the side of the hill between Thorndon and Kelburn, near central Wellington....
.
Birth in Ireland
Born in or near the town of NewryNewry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Ireland, Ludlam lived for a while in the West Indies before coming to New Zealand, where he would spend the rest of his life apart from visits to Australia and England. (Little is known about Ludlam's early activities in Ireland or the West Indies but a preserved specimen of the common iguana
Iguana
Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
, collected by him on Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
, is listed in an 1845 British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
catalogue of lizards.)
Life in New Zealand
Alfred Ludlam was aged 30 when he arrived at Wellington on New Zealand's North IslandNorth Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
on 12 December 1840 from Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
in England. He is listed as a "cabin passenger" aboard the 700-ton emigrant vessel London, which sailed under the auspices of the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
. (The company had been formed in London the previous year with the purpose of promoting the orderly colonisation of New Zealand by British settlers.) He prospered in his new homeland, proving to be an energetic, intelligent and highly capable settler who proceeded to play an active role in the Wellington region's civic and cultural life. He also assisted the Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
militia during the New Zealand land wars
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
, which pitted the British colonists against the indigenous Māori tribes. He served in the militia as Captain Ludlam from July 1860 onwards.
In 1853 voters chose Ludlam and Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Edward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia, and later New Zealand....
, the former director of the New Zealand Company, to represent the electorate of Hutt
Hutt (New Zealand electorate)
Hutt was a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It was one of the original electorates in 1853 and existed during two periods until 1978. It was represented by 13 Members of Parliament.-Population centres:...
in New Zealand's 1st Parliament
1st New Zealand Parliament
The 1st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 24 May 1854, following New Zealand's first general election . It was dissolved on 15 September 1855 in preparation for that year's election...
, which opened in Wellington on 24 May the following year. Ludlam would also be elected as a member of the 2nd Parliament
2nd New Zealand Parliament
The 2nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. It opened on 15 April 1856, following New Zealand's 1855 election. It was dissolved on 5 November 1860 in preparation for 1860–61 election...
and the 4th Parliament
4th New Zealand Parliament
The 4th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand.Elections for this term were held in 61 electorates between 12 February and 6 April 1866 to elect 70 MPs. Parliament was prorogued in late 1870. During the term of this Parliament, two Ministries were in power...
, representing Hutt
Hutt (New Zealand electorate)
Hutt was a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate. It was one of the original electorates in 1853 and existed during two periods until 1978. It was represented by 13 Members of Parliament.-Population centres:...
in 1853–55 (resigned 9 July), 1855–56 (resigned 16 August) and 1866–70 (retired). He resigned his seat before the conclusion of both the 1st and 2nd Parliaments.
In addition, Ludlam represented the Hutt area on the Wellington Provincial Council in 1853–56 and again in 1866–70. Throughout his career in politics, Ludlam was renowned for his frankness, honesty and hard work. His propensity for straight-talking inhibited his ability to be a deft political operator but it did earn him the respect of his parliamentary colleagues and his constituents. He was nicknamed "Old Bricks" because of his solid, reliable character and stern appearance. Taller than average in height, he sported mutton-chop whiskers and a monocle during his time in public life.
During the 1850s and 60s, Ludlam's political and social activities brought him into occasional contact with a kinsman of his wife—the English-born baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
and former Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
sugar planter Sir Samuel Osborne Gibbes. Sir Samuel (1803–74) was a prominent Freemason and a landed proprietor at Whangarei
Whangarei
Whangarei, pronounced , is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. Although commonly classified as a city, it is officially part of the Whangarei District, administered by the Whangarei District Council a local body created in 1989 to administer both the...
, on the upper extremity of New Zealand's North Island. He was a Legislative Councillor from 1855 to 1863, impressing Ludlam with the strength of his belief in noblesse oblige
Noblesse oblige
Noblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "nobility obliges".The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus:# Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly....
community service and his advocacy of high ethical standards. (For more information, see the Wikipedia entry for the Osborne-Gibbes Baronets
Osborne-Gibbes Baronets
The Gibbes, later Osborne-Gibbes Baronetcy, of Springhead in Barbados, was a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 30 May 1774 for Philip Gibbes, a wealthy Barbadian plantation owner, lawyer, and author of books dealing with the management of slaves and sugar estates...
.)
Ludlam was a notable landed proprietor. His holdings included real estate in Ghuznee Street, Wellington (town sections 169 and 171), and he owned a substantial riverside farm at Waiwhetu
Waiwhetu
Waiwhetū is a suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington situated at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.Waiwhetū is largely built on land that set aside as a native reserve for the Te Āti Awa tribe in the 1840s. In the 1930s the land was compulsorily acquired by the government, with new homes...
, Lower Hutt, where he ran flocks of sheep and developed a reputation as an expert in horticulture. He had purchased the Waiwhetu farm from fellow pioneer Francis Molesworth in the mid-1840s, calling it Newry after his home town in Ireland
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
. Ludlam built a large house at Newry in 1848, replacing the farm's first homestead. The farm also boasted an orchard, a spacious barn often used for public functions (such as an official dinner held there for the governor, Sir George Grey
George Grey
George Grey may refer to:*Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet , British politician*George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent *Sir George Grey , Governor of Cape Colony, South Australia and New Zealand...
, in 1851) and a stone windmill that had been erected by Molesworth in 1845.
In 1860, Ludlam imported the first Romney
Romney (sheep)
The Romney, formerly called the Romney Marsh sheep but generally referred-to by the local farmers as the Kent, is a breed of sheep originating in England. The Romney is a "long-wool" breed recognized in England by 1800...
Marsh sheep from England into New Zealand, instituting a successful ovine breeding program at a purpose-built stud at Newry. (His brother-in-law, Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes, conducted a similar Romney Marsh breeding program at his Australian sheep property, Yarralumla
Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory
Yarralumla is a large inner south suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately south-west of the city, Yarralumla extends along the south-west bank of Lake Burley Griffin...
(now the site of Australia's Government House
Government House, Canberra
Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla, is the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, in the City of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory....
in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
), during this same period). Ludlam also opened a beautiful landscaped garden at Newry in 1868. He called it The Gums as a tribute to Australia's native eucalyptus trees, which he had studied. (After Ludlam's death the area was renamed McNabb's Gardens and later converted into the Bellevue Pleasure Gardens.)
Ludlam supported the Wellington Colonial Museum and was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Wellington Botanic Garden
Wellington Botanic Garden
The Wellington Botanic Garden, Wellington, New Zealand, covers 25 hectares of land on the side of the hill between Thorndon and Kelburn, near central Wellington....
in 1869, having introduced into the New Zealand Parliament legislation to "establish and regulate" the garden. He also introduced an act of parliament which entrusted management of the Botanic Garden to the New Zealand Institute (forerunner of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal Society of New Zealand
The Royal Society of New Zealand , known as the New Zealand Institute before 1933, was established in 1867 to co-ordinate and assist the activities of a number of regional research societies including the Auckland Institute, the Wellington Philosophical Society, the Philosophical Institute of...
). His contribution to the garden's establishment is commemorated on the 77 acres (311,608.2 m²) site by the pedestrian thoroughfare known as Ludlam Way.
A year after the Botanic Garden was established by means of a Crown Grant (dated 22 November 1869), Ludlam acted as a pallbearer at the funeral in Wellington of the Māori chief Honiana Te Puni, after whom the Lower Hutt suburb of Epuni is named.
Marriage in Australia
Ludlam was a periodic visitor to the Australian colony of New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. The main reason for these trans-Tasman visits of Ludlam's was to do business in the City of Sydney
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
, which served as New South Wales' principal trading port, population centre and seat of government. One of the businessmen with whom he dealt was Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was an Australian industrialist responsible for improving refrigeration of meat. He was renowned for speculation in the local pastoral industry as well as industrial activities such as his Ice-Works in Sydney's Darling Harbour and dry dock and engineering works at...
—an industrialist, pastoralist and pioneer of the frozen-meat trade.
Ludlam also found time to socialise while in Sydney and, on 1 October 1850, he married into Sydney's colonial establishment. The marriage was solemnised at St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney
St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney
St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney is a large Anglican church in Sydney's North Shore. It is located at the corner of Church and McLaren streets, close to the busy North Sydney CBD.- History :...
by Ludlam's friend, the clergyman-scientist William Branwhite Clarke
William Branwhite Clarke
William Branwhite Clarke, FRS was an English geologist and clergyman, active in Australia.-Early life and England:...
, and his bride was Frances "Fanny" Minto Gibbes. Fanny (1822/23-1877) was the third daughter of Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes
John George Nathaniel Gibbes
Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes was a British army officer who emigrated to Australia in 1834, becoming a Crown-appointed member of the New South Wales Legislative Council and the Collector of Customs for the Colony of New South Wales for a record term of 25 years.In his capacity as head of...
and the Colonel's wife, Elizabeth (née Davis). London-born Colonel Gibbes (1787–1873) was a senior government official and a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. He had been head of the New South Wales Customs Service since 1834 and occupied a Crown-nominee's seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
.
Then aged in her late 20s, Fanny was living with her parents at Wotonga House—nowadays part of Admiralty House
Admiralty House, Sydney
Admiralty House is the official Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Kirribilli, on the northern foreshore of Sydney Harbour . This large, Italianate, sandstone mansion occupies the tip of Kirribilli Point...
complex on Sydney's Kirribilli Point—at the time of her marriage to Ludlam. She and her husband spent their honeymoon relaxing at a rural New South Wales property, Yarralumla, which belonged to Fanny's brother-in-law, (Sir) Terence Aubrey Murray. Following their honeymoon, the Ludlams left Australia for New Zealand, making the farm at Newry their marital nest. This move, however, almost proved to be a fatal mistake: on 23 January 1855, the Wairarapa earthquake
1855 Wairarapa earthquake
The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on 23 January at about 9 p.m. In Wellington, close to the epicenter, shaking lasted for at least 50 seconds. The magnitude of the earthquake is estimated to have been in the range 8.1-8.3, the most powerful recorded in New Zealand since systematic European...
destroyed Newry homestead, and the Ludlams narrowly escaped being crushed to death when a brick chimney in the living room collapsed around them. After the earthquake, as the Ludlams waited for Newry to be made habitable again, they went to live with the New Zealand politician and landowner (Sir) David Monro
David Monro
Sir David Monro was a New Zealand politician. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1861 to 1870.-Early life:...
, who owned a farm at Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
. Still extant is a vivid description of the earthquake and its destructive impact on the Wellington region, written by Alfred Ludlam to Sir David in a lengthy private letter dated 8 March 1855.
Ludlam was devoted to his wife. Cultured and well read but the possessor of an irreverent sense of humour, Fanny could speak several languages and was an amateur artist and musician of above-average competence. She also liked to garden on a serious scale, providing her husband with vital help in the completion of his various horticultural projects at Newry. Although she was a dozen or so years Ludlam's junior she nonetheless predeceased him, succumbing to a painful "stoppage of the bowel" on 5 March 1877. She and Ludlam happened to be staying in London, at 2 Clifton Terrace, Maida Vale
Maida Vale
Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...
, when she died, and her death notice was duly published in the New Zealand press and The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
of 4 May 1877.
Final illness, death & burial
Following the loss of Fanny, a despondent Ludlam returned to New Zealand. He had developed a chronic kidney ailment, and sensing that his days were now numbered, devoted himself to helping needy people and supporting good causes. Ludlam died at a house in Hobart Street, Wellington, on 8 November 1877 and was buried four days later in Bolton Street Cemetery. His death certificate (registration number 1877/2787) ascribed the cause of his demise to "Bright's diseaseBright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
" (an old-fashioned term for nephritis) and "acute peritonitis
Peritonitis
Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
".
Ludlam was aged 67 when he died. The final phase of his life had been devoted to charitable works, and his passing was sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends, acquaintances and beneficiaries. He was not survived by any children and his grave was destroyed during the 1960s by the construction of the Wellington Urban Motorway
Wellington Urban Motorway
The Wellington Urban Motorway, part of SH 1, is the major road into and out of Wellington, New Zealand. It is 7 km long, ranges from three to six lanes wide, and extends from the base of the Ngauranga Gorge into the Wellington CBD....
. An official photograph of him is preserved, however, in the archives of the library of the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington. Ludlam Street in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun and Ludlam Crescent at Lower Hutt perpetuate his name.